by Kasper » Thu Aug 03, 2006 6:29 am
I'm not exactly sure what this topic is aimed at, but I think the question is whether the government, i.e. the community at large, should raise money, i.e. tax, in order to provide financial assistance for individual health care related expensens. Please correct me if this is not what you meant GGG!
I've previously mentioned that I'm employed by a government law firm and I primarily deal with employee compensation claims, that is with people who allege they were injured at work and claim compensation for it. I say this only by means of background, not to try to give my ideas on this some greater validity.
Dealing with these claims for some time has really forced to accept the reality of how quicky people can become incapacitated by sudden incidents. One wrong step on the stairs or on/off the pavement and you may well fall fracturing your sacro-illiac joint. If so, you will mostly likely suffer potentially debilitating back pain for the rest of your life.
It has truly shocked me into a reality that perfectly normal, healthy, sensible people can be reduced to a life of pain (often followed by depression/anxiety) in the blink of an eye.
Should people then be forced to also be financially ruined by the high costs of health care? I don't think so. Anyone reading this can become crippled or otherwise injured within the next half hour from now by no fault of anyone. The same certainly goes for other illnesses. Again anyone, et ego, reading this may well suffer from cancer right now without realising it, without anyone's fault. I think we should accept this risk, that we suffer as individuals, as a community/nation as a whole.
The other side of this is that we ought to take responsibility for our actions which we know puts us at greater risk of injury, eg. smoking, not jumping off a cliff without checking how deep the water is below, wearing a helmet on a building site, etc.
“Cum ego verbo utar,” Humpty Dumpty dixit voce contempta, “indicat illud quod optem – nec plus nec minus.”
“Est tamen rogatio” dixit Alice, “an efficere verba tot res indicare possis.”
“Rogatio est, “Humpty Dumpty responsit, “quae fiat magister – id cunctum est.”